(LEAD) N. Korea threatens to rethink Trump-Kim summit

2018/05/16 11:56

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SEOUL, May 16 (Yonhap) -- A senior North Korean official warned Wednesday that Pyongyang will reconsider the agreed-upon summit talks with the United States if it comes under continued pressure to "unilaterally" abandon its nuclear program.

Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan made clear that the communist regime is not interested in any nuclear talks in which it is coerced into giving up its nuclear arsenal, according to Pyongyang's state news agency KCNA.

"We will not be interested in talks anymore if (they) only try to push us unilaterally into a corner and force us to give up nukes," he said in a statement carried by the state media. "It would be inevitable to reconsider whether to respond to the upcoming summit with the U.S."

He urged Washington to join talks with sincerity, which would be met by "proper responses" by the North.

Kim's remarks came hours after the North abruptly announced an indefinite suspension of inter-Korean talks planned for Wednesday, citing ongoing joint military drills between South Korea and the U.S.

Pyongyang also threatened to cancel the much anticipated summit talks between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump.

The U.S. earlier said that it continues to plan for the historic summit despite the regime's threat to withdraw. The two leaders are set to meet in Singapore on June 12.